Currency-slitter.



Patented May 22, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. A. BIRCHER.

CURRENCY SLITTER.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 19H.

H M an R R E. A. BTRCHER.

CURRENCY SLITTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26. m1.

1,227,370. Patented May 22, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EUGENE A. BIRCHER, OF ROCHESTER, NEJT YORK.

CURRENCY-SLITTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1917.

. Application filed May 26, 1911. Serial No. 629,742.

To all whom it may concern: a

Be it known that I, Eocene A. BIRCHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Currency- Slitters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a cheap, durable and convenient mechanism for cutting or slitting sheets of bank bills into the separate bills.

Another object of my invention is to provide feeding gages that will engage the back edge and the side edge of the sheet to be slit instead of the front edge.

Another object of my invention is to provide gripping fingers on the feeding roll by which the sheet will be automatically caught and fed forward at the proper time to insure printing thereon any desired character at apredetermined place.

Another object of my invention is to con struct the main feeding roll of a single piece having a plurality of cutting edges formed thereon.

Another object of my invention is to mount the gripping fingers and the printing stencils on said feeding roll.

Another object of my invention is to control a plurality of gripping fingers in the feeding roll by means of a single cam mounted on the frame of the machine.

Another object of my invention is to provide stationary guards on the machine that will hold the front edge of the paper in position so that it may be readily caught by the gripping fingers.

Another object of my invention is to provide a series of disk cutting knives mounted on a single shaft, which shaft is driven at an angular and peripheral velocity different from that at which the feeding roll is driven.

Another object of my invention is to place the feeding table at an angle. to'the horizontal, so that sheets placed thereon will by gravity move away from the feeding roll rather than toward it, thus accurately positioning such sheets against the back gages mounted thereon.

Another object of my invention is to provide a crank handle for the feeding roll, Which crank handle can be given a quarter turn to and from operative position'vvithout moving the feed roll to which it is connected.

These and other objects of my invention will be illustrated in the drawings and fully described in the specification fand pointed out in the claimsat the end thereof.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improved currency slitter.

F 2 is a vertical section on the line Q -Q of Fig. 1.

3 is a detail view of the feed roll, partly broken away, showing one of the gripping fingers.

Fig. a is an end view of the feeding roll showing the cam by which the gripping fingers are operated.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the crank or handle.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the handle, the handle being shown turned to a position at right angles to that shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 '7 of Fig. 5.

. Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8 o of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a vertical section through the feeding table on the line 9'-9 of Fig. 1, part of the feeding table being broken away.

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the feeding table.

Fig. 11 is a section on the line 11 11 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 12is a modification of the shaft for supporting the feed roll.

Fig. 13 is a modification of the inking device.

In the accompanying drawings reference numeral 1 indicates the uprights which are used for the supporting of the whole structure. These-uprights have the lugs 2, 2 which rest upon the table or whatever support is used for my improved slitting machine. These uprights are tied together by the tie rods 3, 3, 3 which are made of ordinary bar stock turned down at the ends to form shoulders thereon and threaded, so that the frame is clamped between suitable nuts on the ends of said rods and the shoulders formed thereon. Each of the uprights is provided with the bearings 4 for the shaft 6 that carries the slitting knives and the bearings 5 for the shafts 7 that support the feed roll 8. The feed roll is made preferably of one piece and for this purpose a single piece of heavy tubing may be used. This tubing is turned down so as to form suitable collars and recesses there on, all of which details will presently be described.

The ends of the cylinder are closed with the disks 9 and 10, projecting from each of which is a short shaft 7 which fits in the bearings 5, of the respective uprights 1, 1. he disk 10 is also provided on its periphery with a set of gear teeth forming a complete gear wheel thereon, which gear wheel meshes with a similar gear wheel 12 mounted on the shaft 6.

As will be seen in Fig. 1, the main feed r0118 is cut away with the narrow recesses 13 on the left of which is provided a collar 11- against which bears the disk knife mounted on the shaft 6. The collar 14 forms a ledger blade against which the knife 15 operates to shear and to secure a shear cut, the knife 15 is driven with a greater peripheral speed than the collar 14. This is secured as follows. The gear 8 is slightly larger in diameter than the collars 14 which are driven thereby. The gear 12 is slightly smaller than the knives 15 which are driven thereby, the effect of this ratio being to cause the periphery of the knives to move somewhat faster than the periphery of the collars against which they bear. Adjacent to the collar 11 is formed the annular recess 15 which is deep enough to provide room for the mounting of the stencil plate 16 on which may be formed any suitable character or combination of characters for the purpose of printing on the bills as they are being slit.

At the left of the recess 16 the roller is not cut away, leaving therein a surface 17 which will securelv support the sheet of paper as it passes through the machine. To the left of the cylindrical surface 17 is another recess 13 followed by a collar or flange 14: on which is formed another cutting edge against which bears the circular knife 18. In like manner the various recesses, collars and cylindrical surfaces are provided throughout the roll, a complete set of them being provided for each of the circular cutting knives 15, 18, 19, 20 and 21 that may be provided on the shaft 6.

The shaft 6 is provided at its left hand end with the gear wheel 12 fastened integrally thereto. Adjacent to this gear wheel is provided the collar 22 of the cutting disk 21 rigidly mounted thereon, which collar and cutting disk are free to slide along the shaft. The collar 23 is rigidly secured to the shaft, and between the collar 23 and the cutting disk 21 a compression spring 24: is coiled around the shaft, the expansion of which compression spring holds the cutting disk 21 against the cutting edge on the flange 14;. To the right of the collar 23 is mounted a collar similar to the collar 22 on which is mounted to rotate therewith an elastic compression roll 26. Also mounted to the collar 25 is the cutting disk 20 which cutting disk is held up against the cutting edge of the flange 14 by the compression spring 27. In the same manner the compression rolls 28 and 29 are provided with the cutting disks 19 and 18 therefor, held into engagement with the cutting edges on the main roll 8 by the springs 30 and 31. A spring 32 is provided to hold the cutting disk 15 in engagement with the flange 14:. On the uprights 1, 1 I provide the flanges 33, 33 which support the hood or guard 3 1, the hood being fastened to said flanges at each end by the screws On top of this hood may be placed any inscription that may be desired, thus making the hood serve as a name plate. The hood also acts as a guard for the slitting knives. Immediately below the guard and in front of the knives I attach the paper guard 36 which consists of an ordinary tube of small diameter fastened at each end to the uprights 1, 1 and at suitable intervals sections of the tube are cut out on three sides and bent down with suitable guides to hold the paper in contact with the feeding roll. The feeding roll is provided at suitable intervals with the slotted openings 37 therein. Through the feed roll 8 passes a shaft 38 on which is mounted opposite each of said openings 37, gripping fingers 39. This shaft is mounted to oscillate in bearings 10, 40 in the end plates 9 and 10 of the feeding roll. On the right hand end of this shaft is placed a crank 41 having a stud $2 projecting at right angles thereto, on which is mounted an anti-friction roller 4E3. This crank and antifriction roller are placed to make engagement with the cam 14: mounted on the right hand upright 1. This crank and its antifriction roll are held in the position shown in Fig. 4 by the tension spring 15 and in this position the gripping finger 39 makes contact with the cylindrical surface 17 of the roll 8. As the roll 8 revolves, the cam 4:4; swings the crank around, drawing the gripping fingers back and holding the gripping fingers out of contact with the cylindrieal surface 17 until the anti-friction roller has passed the cam. when the spring 4-5 will act to draw the gripping fingers 39 down into contact with the cylindrical surface 17. This cam holds the gripping fingers withdrawn for about one-quarter of a revolution, or just long enough to give ample time and space in which to lav a fresh sheet of bills in proper position without stopping the rotation of the crank.

Mounted on the shaft 7 that projects from the disk 9 at the right hand end of the main feeding roll, I provide a handle 4:6 and crank, the construction of which I am now about to describe. Mounted on the shaft 7 is a socket 47 perforated at 48 for the shaft 7 and at 49 for the stem of the crank 50. The perforations 48 and 49 are at right angles to each other and slightly overlap each other, so that when the socket 47 is placed on the shaft and the stem 50 of the crank 51 is inserted in the hole 49, it will positively engage with the shaft 7 which is cut away for such purpose, as shown in Fig. 8, and look all of the parts together. The socket 47 is slightly channeled at one end and the end of the crank 51 is cut away to form a place of attachment for the spring 52 which is mounted rigidly on said handle 51 and engages with said channeled portion 53 of the socket 47. The handle 46 can be turned from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 5 to the position shown in Fig. 6, thus reducing the amount of space in the packing case that is needed for storing away the machine.

Mounted on the uprights 1, 1 is the feeding table 61 on which the sheets are placed and held in position during the operation of the feed roll. This feeding table is provided with the back gages 61 and 62 and the side gage 63.

It will be noticed in Fig. 2 that the feeding table is slanted backward at the back so that the sheets of paper placed thereon will by gravity actually be drawn away from the feeding roll. The back gages 61 and 62 are fixed at a predetermined place so that the sheets of paper when placed thereagainst will have the free edge that overlies the feeding roll in proper position to be seized by the grippers as the roll rotates, and thereby the sheet of paper will be drawn forward between the slitting knives and the cutting edges and cut into the desired number of parts. The side gage 63 positions the sheet properly so that the signatures or any other device or characters that are printed from the stencil plates will go in the proper line on the sheets of paper.

The feeding table 60 is provided with brackets 64 by which it is pivoted on the tie rod 3 which connects the uprights 1, 1, per mitting the feeding table to be swung to the position shown in Fig. 10, exposing the inking rolls 65 which are supported thereunder in brackets 66, pivotally mounted to the table at one end at 67 and adjustably se cured to the stud 68 at the other end, which stud is secured to the table.

Between the table and the bracket 66 is interposed the spring 69 which presses the bracket 66 against the thumb nut 70 by which the adjustment may be secured. The inking rolls 65 are in line with the stencil plates and normally bear against them when in contact therewith, but do not bear against any other part of the feed roll. When the feed table is in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 9 it may be fastened by means of the narrow thumb screws 71.

Centrally of the feeding table 60 I provide the hand hole 72 in which the paper to be fed may be gripped on both sides and accurately adjusted on the feeding table, thus facilitating the correct placing of it on the feeding table.

It will be understood that the sheets that are to be cut will be laid on the feeding table one at a time and that the succeeding sheet will not be placed upon the feeding table until the preceding sheet has been drawn through or started through the slitting knives.

In Fig. 12 I have shown a modification of the shaft for supporting the feed roll 8. The feed roll is provided with a tapered hole having a key slot 7 5 therein, into which projects a short shaft 7 6 attached to thehandle 51. This shaft has an annular recess 7 7 therein. The shaft is supported in the bearing 78 provided with a thumb screw 79, which looks said shaft in position holding it in positive engagement with the feed roll 8. By turning up the thumb screw 79 so as to disengage it from the shaft 76, the shaft 7 6 may be removed from the bearing, allowing the feed roll 8 to be removed from the machine.

It has'been found desirable to equip each machine with interchangeable feed rolls, each roll for cutting bank notes in diflerent widths, and this mounting of the feed roll facilitates the removal of one kind of feed roll and the insertion of another kind.

In Fig. 13 I have shown a modification of my inking roller. As illustrated in Fig. 15 I have provided a felt roller 80 mounted to rotate in a bracket 81, which bracket is pivoted in the base 82. The cam 88 is provided which can be turned for adjusting the angular position of the bracket 81, moving the felt roll 80 closer to or farther away from the distributing roll 84. The bracket 81 is pressed against the cam 88 by means of the compression spring 85. The distributing roll 84 is composed preferably of leather, wood or other equivalent hard substance, the surface of which is shellacked so as to better convey the ink from the inking roller 80 to the electrotypes carried on the feeding roll 8. The distributing roll 84 is mounted in bracket 86. This bracket is provided with an arm which bears against the stop 87 for regulating the degree of contact between the distributing roller and the electr-otype.

The cutting edges on the roll 8 may be referred to for convenience as ledger blades, while the knives on the cutting shaft may be referred to as the cutting blades.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and patentable is as follows:

1. In a paper cutting machine, the combination of a feed roll, ledger blades or cutting edges formed thereon, a shaft mounted to rotate parallel thereto, disk cutting blades mounted on said shaft and cooperating with cutting edges on said feed roll, gearing between said feed roll and said shaft to cause said disk blades to rotate faster than said ledger blades.

2. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a feed roll, gripping fingers mounted inside of said roll and projecting through slots in the periphery of said roll, a spring for pressing said gripping fingers against the periphery of said roll, a cam for drawing said gripping fingers back into the roll, said gripping fingers being released on the rotation of said roll and caused by said spring to grip the periphery of said roll.

3. The combination in a paper cutting "machine of a feed roll, a feeding table mounted tangentially to said roll, a stationary gage fastened at the outer edge of said feed table to position a standard size sheet of paper on said feed table with reference to said feed roll, automatically operating gripping fingers mounted on said feed roll to grip the forward edge of the sheet of paper held in position by said gage.

4. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a feed roll, a feed table placed tangentially thereto and sloping away therefrom, a stationary gage mounted on the outer edge of said feed table for positioning a sheet of paper thereon, automatically operating gripping fingers mounted on said feed roll to grip the forward edge of the sheet of paper held in position by said gage.

5. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a feed roll, a feed table placed tangentially thereto and sloping away therefrom, a gage mounted on the outer edge of said feed table for positioning a sheet of paper thereon, a rentrant recess cut in the outer edge of said feeding table, exposing a portion of the under side of the sheet of paper laid thereon.

6. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a feed roll, a feed table placed tangentially thereto and sloping away therefrom, a pair of gages mounted on the outer edge of said feed table for positioning a sheet of paper thereon, a re'elntrant recess cut in the outer edge of said feeding table between said feeding gages, exposing a portion of the under side of a sheet of paper laid thereon.

7. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a feed roll, a food table placed tangentially thereto and sloping away therefrom, a pair of gages mounted on the outer edge of said feed table for positioning a sheet of paper thereon, a reentrant recess cut in the outer edge of said feeding table between said feeding gages, exposing a portion of the under side of a sheet of paper laid thereon, an under gage on said feeding table for positioning said paper longitudinally thereon.

8. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a frame, a feed roll mounted therein, a shaft supporting said feed roll at one end, a crank mounted in said shaft and extending at right angles thereto, a handle mounted at the outer end of said crank extending parallel to said shaft, said crank being swiveled in said shaft, permitting said handle to be turned with said crank transversely to said shaft.

9. The combination in a paper cutting machine of a frame, a feed roll mounted therein, a shaft supporting said feed roll at one end, a bearing for supporting said shaft, said shaft having an annular recess therein, a set screw in said bearing engaging said annular recess, the end of said shaft being tapered and provided with a key, a corresponding recess in the end of said roll for receiidng the end of said shaft, a collar between said tapered portion and the balance of the shaft.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EUGENE A. BIRCHER.

Witnesses:

LENA M. Asrr, ALICE M. JoHANNs.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

